The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
All publications herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
Securing sensitive electronic data is of extreme importance, particularly where the electronic data provides access to high-value assets. Securing data in a computer's volatile memory modules is of particular importance since data saved on volatile memory modules is typically unencrypted for rapid access by a user system. A malicious actor could rapidly pull out a memory module from a computer that is in-use and plug that memory module into a new computer, to gain access to the unencrypted data on the memory module.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,700 to Eyer teaches a microcomputer with an internal RAM that has secure data that can only be accessed by internal programs. When the microcomputer is in external program mode, Eyer's system cuts off access to the secure internal RAM. Given time, however, malicious actors could replace Eyer's mode control with their own control switch, giving external programs access to Eyer's secure internal RAM.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,959,311 to Akkar teaches a RAM having both public and secure partitions. A cryptographic hardware accelerator coupled to Akkar's processor is used to control access to the secure partition. However, a malicious actor could simply physically steal Akkar's cryptographic hardware accelerator in addition to Akkar's RAM to gain access to the data stored on the RAM, which would nullify any security measures taken to secure data saved on Akkar's RAM.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,501,652 to Paksoy teaches a system that has a plurality of processors, with a more secure processor and storage for high-security applications and a less-secure processor and storage for low-security applications. Paksoy's secure storage, however, can also be accessed by a malicious actor who physically steals Paksoy's high-security processor in addition to its high-security storage.
Thus, there remains a need for a system and method to secure access to a computer-readable medium.